SHEBOYGAN – As is often the case in the first round of a major championship, it came as no surprise that Thursday’s opening 18 holes of the PGA Championship offered up an assortment of looks.

Expect more of the same in the second round, courtesy of Mother Nature.

The last major of the season began calmly, and jagged Whistling Straits played like a puppy under thick cloud cover amid soft breezes. By noon, Whistling Straits resembled a saber-toothed tiger, with high winds whipping up problems and forcing players in the afternoon wave to hold on along Lake Michigan.

On the course, Tiger Woods looked sloppy in the most pristine of conditions. World No. 2 Jordan Spieth looked so-so in the toughest conditions despite his preposterous 15th chip-in of the year. World No. 1 Rory McIlroy shook off some rust after being away for several weeks and looked just fine, his injured left ankle causing no problems.

And no one fared better than Dustin Johnson, the big-hitting South Carolinian who looked much better after his pace-setting 6-under-par 66 than he did upon leaving the 2010 PGA Championship here after a controversy involving a bunker dropped him out of a playoff. Johnson had no issues with any of the more than 1,000 bunkers sprinkling the course as he took advantage of his power to make five birdies and an eagle.

Johnson has a 1-stroke lead over David Lingmerth and is two ahead of a pack at 68 including Jason Day and Matt Kuchar. Justin Rose is in a group at 69. McIlroy and Spieth each came home in 71. Phil Mickelson shot 72. Woods struggled to a 75.

“Today I thought I did a great job of just staying patient, hitting the shots that the course allowed me to hit. And I struck the ball well today. So I was very pleased,” said Johnson, who is the first person to lead a third consecutive major after the first round in the modern era. “Today, I really felt like I had my ball under control a lot like I did at the U.S. Open. So I feel a lot more comfortable right now. It's only the first round, we've still got a lot of golf to play.”

The first round also delivered a surprise appearance on the leaderboard, though Lingmerth should no longer make people wonder ‘Who?’ He won his first PGA Tour title at The Memorial in June, has four top-6 finishes in his last six starts and shot a front-nine 29 on the Old Course to begin his British Open.

On the links-style Whistling Straits, Lingmerth made five birdies in his first seven holes and finished with a 67.

“That win at Memorial kind of got me the confidence and got me kick started,” Lingmerth said. “I put myself in the position to have some good chances to win some more tournaments. I'm hoping I can keep it up and be there on Sunday.

“I know I can play well out here, so I’m just going to put one foot in front of the other and keep on going.”

That’s what McIlroy did. He said he has full confidence in his left ankle, and aside from being nervous on the first tee hitting a shot in competition for the first time in 53 days, he looked like he always does.

“It was a solid round of golf. Happy with the way I struck the ball,” said McIlroy, who ruptured a ligament in his ankle July 4 playing soccer. “Obviously I was pretty nervous on the first tee. It was just getting back there, it was nice to get that opening tee shot out of the way. It wasn't the best of starts, but to hit those two shots on the second hole and make birdie, that sort of settled me down and I could get into the round.

“I think anything under par this afternoon was a decent score.”

That’s what Spieth was thinking, too. While he said he had trouble matching up the speed of the greens with his putting stroke, he navigated his way around the tough terrain and was happy with the round.

“Under par was a good round this afternoon, I think one of the better rounds in the afternoon. Whatever (Lingmerth) ate this morning, I'd like to eat tomorrow, because that's a heck of a round of golf in those conditions,” Spieth said. “I definitely had chances to shoot a lower score, but the (par) saves at the end there on 15 and 17 were huge.

“For the miscues that I had, maybe a couple of breaks early on the round, they certainly made up for themselves on the back nine. All in all, it's about how I played. I played good, a couple of those mid-range putts fall, we can work our way up the leaderboard.”

Woods said he hit the ball great but couldn’t putt. He made just two birdies against five bogeys and needed 33 putts to get home.

“I've had good putting rounds and I’ve had bad ball-striking days on those days, and then the flip side of it,” said Woods, a four-time winner of this championship who is now ranked No. 278 as he continues working through issues with his newest swing. “So, I’ve just got to get a combo right and then have it for three more days.”

That is, if he makes it to the weekend. Woods will have to go low in Friday’s second round or, like he did in the U.S. Open and British Open, he’ll be heading home after two rounds.

It won’t be easy for Woods or any of the players who have afternoon tee times. Friday’s forecast calls for calm conditions in the morning with the wind picking up along with the temperatures in the afternoon. When the flags are moving briskly in the wind, all of the sharp edges and yawning bunkers of Pete Dye’s course can become maddening.

“It was tough out there. Hopefully we have some good conditions (Friday) morning and we'll be back here real early to get after it again and hopefully get off to a good start,” said Steve Stricker, the local favorite who gave his state something to cheer about with a 71. “It plays different in the wind and you really have to keep your eye on things. But it's a tough course. Even when it's calm, you got to pay attention and holes can jump up and grab you any time.